Jacinta Kerketta comes from the Indigenous community in Jharkhand state, eastern India She was nominated to receive Room to Read Young Author Award for her children’s poetry NEW DELHI: Indian poet Jacinta Kerketta has turned down a prestigious US-backed literary award, citing her solidarity with the Palestinian children and women in Gaza killed by Israel with American military support. The Room to Read Young Author Award, co-sponsored by the US Agency for International Development and Room to Read India Trust, aims to promote children’s literacy. Kerketta was selected to receive it next week for “Jirhul,” her latest children’s poetry collection. “I declined this award because USAID (U.S. Aid for International Development) is associated with Room to Read India Trust,” she told Arab News on Wednesday. “When I got information about the award for children’s literature, I felt that it was more important to speak for the children of Palestine than to receive an award.” She also raised concerns over the links of the international nonprofit itself, as it has been collaborating with Boeing, which is a sponsor of some of its literacy programs in India. “At the same time when children were being killed in Palestine, Room to Read India Trust was collaborating with Boeing Company ... a company that has had arms business with Israel for a long time,” Kerketta said. “I rejected this award to show my solidarity with the children, women.” Originally from Jharkhand state in eastern India, the poet is a member of the minority Adivasi community — India’s marginalized indigenous people who traditionally live in and around forest areas. “Adivasi people are struggling for their survival along with saving nature. They’re always an advocate of human freedom,” she said. “My community gives me the courage to show solidarity with those fighting for their freedom.” More women and children have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades, according to new analysis by Oxfam. Oxfam’s “conservative figures” earlier this week indicate that more than 6,000 Palestinian women and 11,000 children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023. The numbers do not include at least 20,000 of those who are either unidentified or missing. Earlier this year, a study published by the medical journal The Lancet estimated the true number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza could be more than 186,000, taking into consideration also indirect deaths as a result of starvation, injury and lack of access to medical aid.